Posts Tagged: slow roast

When the weatherman says it’s raining, you won’t hear mecomplaining goes the song. Not strictly true as motorbikes and rain aren’t the best of friends!

It does, though, give me an excuse to stay in and cook something slow on the hob or in the oven – something that requires plenty of preparation – chopping onions, celery, carrots or ginger, garlic and chillies.

Most days I’ll chop, flip and fry at the pace I’m used to from professional kitchens. But when the rain pitter-patters outside everything slows right down and I become a little more absorbed in what I’m doing. Lost in the steady grinding of spices or juicing oranges, the picking and chopping of herbs or the peeling of potatoes.

Filling the house with the warm aromas of a slow-cooked meal, waiting patiently listening to the radio – perhaps a drop of red as the meal nears readiness…it might be raining outside but that won’t dampen the mood.

This recipe comes from Becky whose blogis packed with delicious recipes and great pictures. She recommends serving it with a beetroot and yogurt salad, the recipe for which you can find here

In my house Easter Sunday has an agenda followed for many years. Church for those who choose, a brisk walk on what is usually a fairly chilly day (although this year it may be different as Easter falls so late), and a delicious, leisurely lunch.

Over the years I have switched roles, from witness to the spectacle to creator, edging into the kitchen earlier and earlier each Easter. It’s somewhere I could stay, contentedly pottering about, all day. We cook on an Aga at my mother’s, which is at times great fun and at others, a bit of a pain. When it’s all systems go it tends to slow down a bit, right at the critical veg-boiling, gravy-making moment, but the low, steady heat of the bottom oven makes the most spectacular red cabbage.

And our Easter menu? A good shoulder of lamb, some crunchy, roast potatoes and white sprouting broccoli, the tips of which act as perfect sponges to soak up a gravy made with a spoonful of quince jelly. It’s a calm affair – as it should be on such a day

About

Name: William Leigh
Age: 30. Just.
In between catering for private functions and making a mess in the kitchen, I'm a food-obsessed traveller on a one-man eating mission around the world.
Anthony Bourdain is my food hero, and his 'Kitchen Confidential' is among my read and read again books. I couldn't live without a good knife, a pen and paper or Thai food. I hate it when my cakes stick to the side of their tins. I love my food mixer, my spatula and my ice cream maker with a passion verging on lunacy.
My favourite things are gooseberries and mangosteens, but I've got a weakness for hot dogs in soft white buns smothered with cheap ketchup and bright yellow mustard.
I live in south west London but my heart lies amid the colourful, noisy 'sois' of Bangkok.